1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improvements in an apparatus for controlling air conditioners for automobiles having a plurality of air supply outlets and designed to determine the distribution of conditioned air supplied to a vehicle compartment through the air supply outlets.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is well known in the art to vary the distribution of air blown into the upper and lower portions of a compartment of a vehicle. For instance, disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application Publication No. 55-47914 is a system in which, in accordance with the temperature of air supplied to the vehicle compartment, cooled air is blown into the upper portion of the compartment and heated air is blown into the lower portion of the compartment. Also, similar systems are disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 54-12819, etc. Thus, in these known systems heated air is blown into the lower portion of the vehicle compartment in winter. However, if an occupant is exposed to the heat from the sun impinging on the vehicle compartment during such heater supply mode of operation, the upper part of the body of the occupant is exposed to the sun's heat, so that sometimes the occupant has a sensation of excessive heat in the upper part of the body. However, air supplied from an air conditioner does not effectively reach the upper part of the body to lessen the sensation of the excessive heat and thus reduce the discomfort of the occupant.
In this connection, air-conditioning systems of the type incorporating an automatic temperature adjusting unit for correcting the air supply temperature in accordance with the intensity of solar radiation (insolation) are known in the art (Japanese Utility Model Publication No. 49-6021, etc.) In such a system, the temperature of the air supply is decreased in accordance with the degree of insolation with the result that during the above-mentioned heater supply mode of operation, the temperature of the air directed towards the lower part of the occupant's body is decreased causing the occupant to feel cold, and this, coupled with a sensation of heating in the upper part of the body, aggravates the discomfort of the occupant.
With respect to the air-conditioner control systems set forth in Japanese Utility Model Publications No. 54-31468 and No. 54-31469, there is disclosed a method of cancelling or reducing the insolation correction during the heater supply mode of operation with a view to overcoming the foregoing deficiencies due to the insolation correction.
However, this method is incapable of improving the feeling on the upper part of the occupant's body.